Contents

History

With the state of Florida being home to an estimated million alligators, the alligator (often just called a "Gator") was chosen as the mascot to represent the University of Florida in 1911, five years after was conglomerated onto its current campus in Gainesville, Florida and began sports play.

A live alligator was once the mascot of the Gators in the field before the costumed version Albert became the mascot in 1970. He was joined by a female version, Alberta, in 1986.[1] They often appear as a couple and are seldom at any athletic event alone.

More so than some college mascots, the students who portray Albert and Alberta have to be able to endure extremely hot temperatures inside the mascot suit during home football games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. [2]

The logo of the Gators athletic teams in the early-to-mid 1990s was a cartoonized version of Albert, eventually dropped in favor of the current gender-neutral Gator head logo.

In popular culture

Like many college mascots, Albert and Alberta have made appearances in the highlights of national sports and highlight shows. The most notable appearance of either was in early 2006, when Albert was featured in a This is SportsCenter commercial. He walked out of an elevator and became the object of Steve Irwin's alligator wrangling tendencies.

In June 2007, Sports Illustrated On Campus ranked Albert as the #1 mascot in their "Mascot Power Rankings."[3]